


Over and Over and Over

by KeekweeBaba



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Caring Hannibal Lecter, First Kiss, Hannibal Lecter Being an Asshole, Hannibal Lecter Loves Will Graham, M/M, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Will Graham Has Nightmares, Will Graham Loves Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 09:44:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20691467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeekweeBaba/pseuds/KeekweeBaba
Summary: Will keeps having nightmares about the bluff. Hannibal seeks a solution.





	Over and Over and Over

_Hannibal was taller than Will. He was growing too; he grew to the size of a house, then to a skyscraper while Will shrank down to the size of a pea. _

_Then they switched places. Will grew and Hannibal shrunk._

_Will blinked down at Hannibal and suddenly they were the same size. Hannibal then put his arms around him and Will couldn’t help but lean into the embrace. _

_Then Will pushed them over the bluff._

_Again._

_ _***_ _

Will woke up before the air could even rush past them on their way down to the sea.

He blinked hard, his eyes adjusting to the morning light. The curtains had already been opened and Hannibal’s side of the bed was empty, as usual at this time.

The smell of bacon and coffee in the air convinced Will to get up, as bleary as he was, and head to the kitchen. He stood in the doorway in his t-shirt and boxers, trying to blink the sleepiness away.

Hannibal’s footsteps were soft as he approached Will, bringing him his morning coffee. He pushed it into his hands and cupped them around the mug, making sure Will had registered that he was holding it before letting go.

A small smile pulled at Hannibal’s lips when Will hummed his thanks, unable to speak yet. Hannibal knew all of this, he had learned very quickly after Will had sleepily dropped his coffee a couple of times. He knew Will was not a morning person and so he returned to the cooker.

Business as usual.

_ _***_ _

It was 3am, and on the other side of the bed, Will was having a nightmare.

Hannibal watched him for a moment, observing Will’s twitching. He only woke him when he began to show more signs of distress.

“Will?”

Will jumped and sat up, breathing hard.

“Are you alright?” Hannibal knew there was something persistently wrong with Will but he didn’t quite feel able to act too familiar with him just yet.

Will nodded, unconvincingly, wiping the sweat from his upper lip. “Yeah, I’m just gonna get some water.”

Hannibal watched as he stumbled out of bed and down the hall to the kitchen.

Will ended up sitting awake for longer than he intended to. When he returned to bed, his side of the mattress had cooled, the sheets had been smoothed out and his pillows had been plumped up again.

He tried his best not to disturb Hannibal when he pulled back the covers but Will had come to learn that he was a light sleeper, no matter how careful he was. He knew Hannibal was awake, blinking in the dark, when he climbed back in and turned over.

_ _***_ _

Hannibal observed Will from the kitchen window.

He had immensely enjoyed watching Will mow the lawn in the hot sun. He’d even treated Hannibal to the glorious show of taking his shirt off and tucking it into the back of his pants.

Hannibal was sure Will didn’t know his specific fantasies but this was the thing that made him doubt that. In any case, he kept up his appearances as the non-affected observer.

Will has since gone for a nap on one of the deck chairs. He was visibly sweating and frowning, and it wasn’t from the heat of the sun. Hannibal unconsciously mirrored his expression. He been unhappy upon waking to find Will’s post-nightmare glass of water still full on the kitchen island.

His attention was once again caught by Will suddenly sitting up and pressing a hand to his chest.

_ _***_ _

_ _ _Will had been sitting across from Hannibal in his Baltimore office._ _ _

_ _ _“Do we talk of time and teacups?” Hannibal had asked._ _ _

_ _ _Will was about to answer when a bloody knife appeared in his hand, it was wet with Dolarhyde’s blood. Will panted heavily, the wind from the sea chilling him in his wet clothes. _ _ _

_ _ _Will leaned into Hannibal, who nuzzled back, gratefully. _ _ _

_ _ _He pushed his weight onto Hannibal and they fell over the edge again and just as they were about to hit the black sea—_ _ _

Will was awake.

“Would you like a glass of lemonade?” Hannibal asked, gently.

He was faithfully by Will’s side, balancing a tray of two glasses and a jug full of homemade pink lemonade.

Will nodded, “Yes, please, Hannibal.” He forgot himself and blushed suddenly at saying please.

Hannibal didn’t seem to notice and placed the tray on the table, sitting down opposite him. He poured Will a glass, ice clinking, before he poured his own. By the time Hannibal had taken his first sip, Will had already downed his glass.

Will looked sheepishly at Hannibal, “Sorry, guess I was thirstier than I realised.”

“No need to apologise, Will,” Hannibal replied. “It wouldn’t do for you to become dehydrated.”

Will thought back to his untouched glass of water from the night before, cleared away by the time Will had thought of doing so himself.

Hannibal poured him another glass, glancing at him knowingly.

“Haven’t had this since I was a kid,” Will told him instead.

“I’m glad you like it, Will.”

_ _ _ _***_ _ _ _

Hannibal woke when he felt a disturbance in the bed. Will had just gone, he could hear his bare feet on the tiles, heading towards the kitchen.

It was 3.30am.

Hannibal rose without question, pulling on his lush dressing gown and slippers before following his beloved lamb.

Will was sitting on the floor, his back against the countertop, trying to stop hyperventilating.

“Will?” Hannibal didn’t expect him to reply.

“It’s the bluff, Hannibal,” Will wheezed. “I keep seeing it.”

Hannibal looked thoughtful before pulling open a cupboard door and bringing out an unmarked box. He began making tea for Will.

Will was mesmerised by Hannibal’s practiced movements in the kitchen and his heart began to slow again. Hannibal noticed, so he was careful to keep the noise to minimum so that it could only lull Will’s racing heart.

He brought boiling mug to Will, on the floor, a tea towel wrapped around it to keep it from burning his hands.

“The tea is my own,” Hannibal told him. “I used to make this for my sister when she had night terrors. I would sneak downstairs to the garden, in the middle of the night, gathering the ingredients before bringing them into the kitchen and brewing them.”

“i couldn’t decide whether or not to kill us.” Will blurted.

“You let the sea decide for you.”

“I wanted to die,” Will recalled softly. His thoughts briefly strayed to Abigail.

“We will go on a trip tomorrow.” Hannibal announced, slicing Abigail away again. “It will help to get rid of the nightmares.”

“Mine don’t work like that.”

“We’ll see.” Hannibal replied, sternly, “Drink your tea.”

When Will finished his sweet, flowery tea and returned to the bedroom, the sheets had been changed to fresh ones and Hannibal was plumping his pillows.

“They say,” Hannibal began, “That if you turn your pillows over after a nightmare then it can’t come back.”

“Why?” Will asked, petulantly, climbing in when Hannibal held the blanket up for him.

Hannibal got in on his own side and just looked at him.

“Has the nightmare leaked out of my ear and onto the pillow?” Will asked. “Have you changed the pillowcase entirely so that my brain can’t suck it back in and show me, on repeat, us falling, over and over, again and again?”

Will’s breath was loud in the silence and when Hannibal didn’t fill it, he carried on. “We’re always falling, always dying, and somehow, we’re always still alive.”

“Which one to you want the most?” Hannibal enquired.

“I don’t know.”

Hannibal turned over onto his side, his back to Will.

_ _ _ _***_ _ _ _

Will woke as the car stopped. It was a good thing too as he and Hannibal were just about to go over the cliff again.

Hannibal came round and opened his door, holding out his hand to help Will step down from the jeep.

After Will stretched, he turned around to get his bearings.

His heart stopped when he saw where they were, his gaze lingering on the harsh yellow of the police tape.

“Hannibal?”

“Welcome back, Will.”

_ _ _ _***_ _ _ _

Hannibal seemed content to linger in the main room. His blood still stained the hardwood floor. He stood where Will stood, looking down at him with dark satisfaction.

Will stood in the doorway, looking out to the patio by the bluff. He felt the heat from Hannibal’s body behind him.

“Wanna go over again?” Will joked nervously, not sure if he was entirely joking.

“If that is what you wish for, Will…Then yes, always.”

There was a beat of silence as Will drank in what Hannibal said. 

“We recreated the marks we left on each other on poor Francis.” Hannibal remarked, changing the subject as they gazed at the ring they once fought in.

“Poor Francis?!”

“He was a confused and lonely boy. Don’t tell me you’ve never shared those feelings, Will.”

Will sighed, defeatedly.

Hannibal softly laid a hand on Will’s shoulder and because he didn’t seem visibly bothered by the touch, Hannibal placed his other hand in Will’s own and walked with him pressed against his front like dancers taking the stage. He knew Will wouldn’t have moved otherwise.

Hannibal guided him to a safe distance from the edge, relenting when Will dug his heels in. Hannibal moved his hands and placed them around Will’s middle, clasping them and drawing him back against his chest again.

Will exhaled shakily and forced himself to relax back into Hannibal’s embrace.

“Would you allow me, Will, to change the past?” He hooked his chin into Will’s shoulder, looking at him close up.

Will pulled an involuntary face in confusion.

“Well, not change,” Hannibal continued. “Recreate what should have happened?”

Will took a deep breath, “Sure, okay.”

Hannibal attempted to step forward and found that Will was immoveable. “We will need to move closer, Will, to where we stood before.”

Will responded nonverbally and moved jerkily, as if he were fighting with his own body. When they took up their positions for going over, Will blinked hard, struggling to stay present.

Hot hands cupped his face and directed his eyes to Hannibal’s own. In the darkness, they looked black and they reminded Will of the shadows cast in Hannibal’s prison cell that did the same thing. It made him look like the devil, if there ever was one. Will swallowed audibly.

“Breathe, my darling, Will.” Hannibal reassured him.

Hannibal then did the unthinkable, he pulled Will into his chest.

This was how it always began; they would go into each other’s arms and then Will would pull them over the edge.

Will’s hands began to tingle and go numb as he gasped for air. His eyes watered up and his vision became obscured. He tried to say Hannibal’s name but only a broken and embarrassing noise came out. His body was cold and trembling, trapped by Hannibal’s.

Will thought he was going to go blind with panic until Hannibal lifted his chin up and pressed his lips to Will’s.

Will’s ragged breaths stopped short and hot tears ran down his face as he closed his eyes. The kiss was so soft, so gentle, it was too nice for the likes of them.

Will briefly wondered how the two of them were able to share this with each other, but he dismissed it and pressed back, his hands finding their clutch on Hannibal’s jumper. He wanted this. He was allowed to have this. He was allowed to have Hannibal this way. Hannibal wanted this.

The kiss broke naturally and the two killers looked at each other in wonder before Will pressed his face into Hannibal’s neck, both terrified and deeply in love all at once.

“I don’t want to go over again,” he cried into Hannibal’s skin. “I want to be with you. I love you, Hannibal.”

Hannibal clutched Will in response to his confession, managing to stroke a hand through Will’s silken curls. “This is all I ever wanted for you, Will, for both of us.”

Surrounded by bloodshed, memories and ghosts, Will looked Hannibal in the eye, happy tears streaming down his face.

“It’s beautiful.”


End file.
